Chapter 15 - The Things Clara Admitted
Andrew agreed to listen only after Maya arranged appropriate boundaries and separate arrival times.
Clara sat across from him at the mediator's office, one hand resting on her stomach.
She looked exhausted, but he would not mistake exhaustion for accountability.
"The baby has been kicking all night," she said.
"Is he okay?"
"The doctor says he is."
They sat with the ordinary concern that remained between people who had done terrible things to each other.
"Why the cake?" Andrew asked.
Clara stared at the table.
"I wanted Emma to stop making everything about Nora. I thought if the guests saw her misbehave, they'd understand why I was overwhelmed."
"She was six. You could have walked away."
"I know."
"You pressed her face into food. You held her there."
Clara began to cry.
"My mother told me I'd never have my own family until I stopped letting Nora run the house."
"Judith didn't hold Emma's head. You did."
Clara nodded.
She admitted ordering the room packed and signing the auction paperwork.
She said she'd thought Pine Crest was a short-term program, but acknowledged sending Judith the intake forms.
"And the signature?" Maya asked.
"I didn't sign Andrew's name," Clara said.
"Mom said she'd take care of it. I knew she shouldn't. I let her."
Andrew waited for the words he wanted to hear: I hurt Emma, and nothing she did caused it.
Clara said them eventually, without trying to finish with but.
"I don't know what to do with that," he answered.
"Apologizing doesn't make it safe to send her home."
"I understand."
As the meeting ended, Clara drew a folded page from her purse.
"There's something else my mother did," she said.
"I found this in her nursery presentation. I think she was going to show it at the shower."
May you like
It was a floor plan of the house with Emma's bedroom crossed out in red.
Underneath, in Judith's handwriting, were the words: BEFORE THE FAMILY RESET.
